DESCRIPTION (Provided by Committee): The I.H. program at the University of West Virginia is administered through the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department (IMSE) in the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources (CEMR). The program is intended to provide applications-oriented education in the fields of industrial hygiene, occupational ergonomics and safety engineering while emphasizing cost effective and practical solutions to safety and health problems in the workplace. Its goal is to train at least 12 Masters students per year, with most being fulltime students. The program emphasizes the needs of the geographic region, as West Virginia and the Appalachian region are historically underserved in occupational safety and health resources, while many hazardous operations such as mining and energy production are prominent in the region. [unreadable] [unreadable] The Department has seventeen faculty members who are engaged in teaching, research and service, eight of whom teach partially or exclusively in industrial hygiene, ergonomics and safety. Of those eight, six are tenured and two are tenure track, associate professors. Drs. Guffey and Wiker are tenure-track Associate Professors, and Drs. Plummer and Myers are tenured full professors. [unreadable] [unreadable] The I.H. Program is ABET-accredited as an Applied Science program in Industrial Hygiene. Since its inception in 1980, the program has graduated more than 210 students. [unreadable] [unreadable] The I.H. Masters degree requires the completion of a minimum of 39 semester hours, but most students take up to 44. Most students work half-time during their second year at NIOSH, DOE, or campus safety or health during their second year. [unreadable] [unreadable] In addition to the course work, the students must meet a university-stipulated [unreadable] writing requirement, which can be satisfied by completing a three-hour problem report or a six-hour thesis. Following completion of the problem report or thesis, the students must pass a formal defense and oral examination. [unreadable] . [unreadable] In the past, most students did a Masters Project instead of a thesis to meet graduation requirements. Partly in response to review comments about the research productivity of the program, trainees will be expected to do a Masters thesis starting with the class that entered in fall 2003. [unreadable] [unreadable] The IH program has an Advisory Group comprised of alumni and others from all parts of the country from the fields of industrial hygiene, safety, and ergonomics. The group meets at least once per year. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]